Teaching Giant African Pouched Rats to Find Landmines: Operant Conditioning With Real Consequences

Abstract

Giant African pouched rats recently have been used as mine-detection animals in Mozambique. To provide an example of the wide range of problems to which operant conditioning procedures can be applied and to illustrate the common challenges often faced in applying those procedures, this manuscript briefly describes how the rats are trained and used operationally. To date, the rats have performed well and it appears they can play a valuable role in humanitarian demining.

Ophthalmic examination findings and intraocular pressures in wild‐caught African giant pouched rats (Cricetomys spp.)

“…The average adult body length is 25 to 45 cm along with an approximately 40 cm tail. The average body weight is 1 to 2 kg with males weighing more than females . These giant pouched rats are of interest as pets in some regions of the world, and they are also utilized for different life‐saving tasks including detecting land mines and tuberculosis by olfaction.…”

“…On average, it costs 6000 euros (approximately $6557) to fully train one pouched rat, which is less than mine‐detecting dogs . At their adult size, giant pouched rats are light enough to not activate the buried mines . They can scan 200 square meters in 20 min, which would correlate to 25 h of work for a standard metal detector.…”

“…The average body weight is 1 to 2 kg with males weighing more than females. [1][2][3][4] These giant pouched rats are of interest as pets in some regions of the world, and they are also utilized for different life-saving tasks including detecting land mines and tuberculosis by olfaction. They have a relatively large olfactory bulb along with an accessory olfactory bulb which is suspected to be the source of their strong sense of smell.…”

“…5 More than 70 war-torn countries are affected by mined areas that have restricted access of the human populations to much-needed land and resources. 1,3 Five hundred thousand people are living with injuries due to these mines exploding in unexpected areas, and an average of nine land mine-related casualties per day were recorded in 2013. 1,6 The giant pouched rats can work up to 6 years and are typically resistant to local diseases and parasites.…”

“…7,8 At their adult size, giant pouched rats are light enough to not activate the buried mines. 1,3 They can scan 200 square meters in 20 min, which would correlate to 25 h of work for a standard metal detector. In 2009, 34 giant pouched rats located 41 mines over a 93 400 m 2 area with a 0% miss rate.…”